Trucks carry a bulk of the goods within the United States. Driver's have a difficult lifestyle in which they spend much of their time within the cab and sleeper of their over the road tractor trailers. They must comply with federal regulations in the United States that limit the amount of time behind the wheel. Exploratory research pointed the inventors to an opportunity to create a more efficient work space for truck drivers in their truck cabs. Many drivers build make shift solutions to stay organized in their limited living environment. Recent changes in federal regulations demand accurate accounting of driving time and mileage on the road, but drivers typically must create much of their own record keeping systems. So, while work organization styles and systems greatly vary per driver, their output must conform to industry standards and be highly accurate, as there are great penalties for inconsistencies and missing information. The intent of the research was to gain a better insight into how truck drivers view their (non-driving) work, understand what constitutes a desirable work space, and determine what constitutes a desirable work space, and determine what aesthetic would be appropriate for the truck cab, which serves as both home and office. This invention and the project that it sprang from created a new work-space for truck cabs that repurposes an under-utilized passenger seat and transforms it into a versatile workstation that a truck driver can use from his or her own driver's seat. This concept will consolidate most non-driving work into one centralized area, and provide a sturdy work-surface that can be adjusted for ergonomically-correct usage. Key product features will focus on paperwork organization, storage, power supply, and convenient access to frequently-used items.
The inventors found that truck drivers overwhelming want to work from “the captain's chair,” (i.e. the driver's seat) and have everything within arm's reach. This product will give them a true work-space solution without taking up any extra space in the cab. For solo drivers, the passenger seat inevitably becomes ad hoc storage for most-frequently used items. By integrating storage options into and around the passenger seat area, the driver can now have a defined, organized system to work with. A convenient element of portability is added by a clipboard-caddy, which holds papers and pens and docks into the workstation unit.